


To Tame The Beast

by cloudnine



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Developing Relationship, Discrimination, Gen, Grooming, Hispanic Zero, I'll change it to M/M whenever it happens ppop, Leon/Zero is platonic sorry, Rating May Change, This might turn into Zero/Kamui if I decide to continue it, because that's the Zero I write now lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-22
Updated: 2016-04-22
Packaged: 2018-06-03 17:48:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6620332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudnine/pseuds/cloudnine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zero's life after Leon saved him. </p><p>(Chapter 1: Chance Meeting)</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Tame The Beast

A cruel punishment from God, that's what this was.

His head hurt, the pounding of his companions boots as they ran ringing in his ears. Ran. Escaped. Left without him. Now he understood why they took his bow from him. He was left defenseless because he wouldn't _need_ to fight. They left him to die. The only other noise he heard was when his savior stepped before him.

Is this what an angel looks like? The ones they spoke of, the one they whispered to him about as a child, the one he prayed to every night he slept in a ditch to save him or to kill him. Either way, he would be happier dead than where he was at the moment. 

The boy spoke but he could only kneel with his head down, saying the harsh words of nobles he couldn't comprehend. How could he beg for death, how could he make the boy understand? He seemed to, the hand on his tome raising and Zero waited, waited for this angel of death to take him.

" _Por favor_ , _mátame._ " 

Relief had surged through his body when he believed he was safe, even if he had asked specifically for death. For the boy with blonde hair and an elegant nature who stood in front of him to kill him. He could not stop how the beatings of his heart alleviated when the boy's hand went down. 

"I'm Leon." Zero stares at the boy's beautiful dark eyes hazed by the moonlight. "What's your name?" 

He points to himself while saying his name and Zero merely replies what comes to mind.

" _No eres nadie. Eres un cero a la izquierda."_

" _Cero. Nada te pertence a ti._ "

" _Siempre serás cero_."

"Cero." He whispers.

"Zero? What a disgraceful name..." The boy sounds disappointed but he seemed to understand what he told him. He watches as the boy picks him up, forcing him to stand. The tome on his hand was between his arm, the other grabbing a hold of Zero's hand. He lets him, wondering if he would kill him somewhere else. Truly, he doesn't believe that. They seem to be about the same age. He's never met a noble who's his age.

"Come, before my siblings find you."

The sounds of Zero's boots clanking against the carpeting was the only noise as Leon pulled him, the boy striding with agile steps on bare feet. While they walk ( _he is dragged_ ) he looks out the windows that surround the ebony stone walls. They give a hint of light to the outside world. Was it morning, noon, evening? It was impossible to know in a cold place like Nohr were everyday was dark. He only realizes it was night, midnight precisely, when the eldest prince and princess find Leon tracing the halls in a black robe with a hand holding onto Zero. There's some low banter, some threats are thrown in the air before they move to a more inconspicuous place. 

"Leon." The voice of the eldest prince is harsh and menacing. "You don't know what you're doing."

Leon's hand clenches around his. "I do know!" His other hand is balled up into a fist and Zero thinks it's strange to see the younger prince shouting when he personally would never dare speak back to someone who holds more power than him. Then again, Leon _was_ a self entitled princely boy, easily evident by his air of refinement and straight posture.

"Leon, dear, don't shout at your brother." The princess' words are calm, comparable to a mother luring their child to sleep. “We're only trying to help you. I'd have expected you of all people would understand the consequences of doing something like this.”

"Camilla," The beginning of a tantrum. "You don't understand, both of you don't understand! Listen to my words, I will take care of him. Me, by myself. I will turn him into a loyal retainer who will serve me with respect. I'll teach him our language and erase his past."

Marx raises an eyebrow. "You can't truly believe a boy who has spent his life being a thief will suddenly turn good and complaint. Why are you so convinced this is a reasonable idea? Why are you so smitten by this...person?" Zero notices how much time it takes him to find a word that isn't derogatory. If there's one thing he comprehends, it was the names nobles used towards people like him.

"I'm not smitten. I see potential in him that you clearly don't." A simple answer, even if Zero couldn't understand. He sees Marx sigh, tapping his index finger on the wooden table. "You truly wish to do this? Will nothing change your mind?"

"No." _No._ It sounds similar to his language and holds the same meaning. "I won't even let Father stop me. I will _not_ let anyone lay a hand on him. If he is killed, I will personally take the blame."

There's astonishment and disappointment in the eldest prince's face, a thin wrinkle on his brow. Zero thinks he's handsome, although it was a given as a prince. In another time he would have tried to seduce the older man, even with the disgust he glared at him. Money was money, a prince was a prince. He was confident enough in his capabilities that he could have any man on his knees, Marx was no different. 

Of course, this is just him imagining. He was supposed to be changing his ways. He wouldn't _dare_ return to being how he was now that he was in the arms of a royal who seemed to care for him. He couldn't ruin this. 

He wonders if the prickly boy holding onto his hand will grow up to look like his brother. He can't imagine wrinkles appearing in Leon's face when he gets angry, but then again; He _has_ only known the boy for a short time.

"Marx," The beautiful girl's reassuring voice eases the tense air. "Let our dear Leon decide for himself. He is already fourteen. If he wishes to do it, let us leave him to it."

A silence hangs in the air except for Marx's tapping, getting slower as the minutes passed.

"I don't have much choice, do I?" He finally says, turning to look at Zero. "Do what you want, Brother. This is your responsibility. Don't go asking Father or us for help later."

"I won't." Leon replies confidently. "Next time you see Zero you'll forget who he ever was."

Not that they even knew anything about Zero in the first place, but nobles were always convinced they perceived a person's life story by how they dressed. Zero in a hood, coat across his body, ramshackle leather he calls boots, pants smeared with strange odors and stains. What else was there to know about him?  

"Leon, don't let Father find you housing this boy yet." The princess tells him, strangely serious. "Keep him hidden until it seems safe. As your big sister I'll always be around if you need me, unlike your _caring_  older brother." It sounds threatening, and his thoughts of the girl being calm seem to change. 

"Thank you, Camilla." He tells her.

She moves to embrace Leon in her arms, the boy wincing a bit at her hard grip. When she lets go she looks at Zero. "Please, don't make trouble for our sweet brother. He truly believes in you."

He merely stares at her but she seems to accept it, a kind smile appearing when she looks at Leon. "We'll be on our way, Leon. Sleep tight."

Marx is already out the door when Camilla joins him, the sounds of their steps the only noise in the midnight hour. 

Zero notices immediately that they're not gone and he tugs at Leon's arm, the boy raising an eyebrow at him. He pulls him over to stand behind the wall, where their whispering was audible. If there's something Zero was proud of, it was his hearing range. He looks beyond the wall to see Marx's arms crossed and Camilla's hands on her hips as she speaks in a hushed tone.

"–This takes time. Leon is a calm boy, he will understand that this is starting from the bottom.”

"Normally a prince would accept an already loyal subordinate, not train a stray dog and turn him into the fraudulent image of a pet. It requires too much effort for it to be worth it."

"He obviously believes the boy to be strong. He's like you, Marx." There's a smile, but Leon doesn't see it. "He'll only choose to keep close people who he sees potential and power in. Please trust in him. He's a smart boy."

Zero watches as Leon leans against the wall, listening idly to his siblings words. After they seem to leave, their boots echoing across the hallway, Leon lets out a long sigh. He stays silent for a while, deep in thought before he turns to Zero and gives him a thin smile.

His hand moves up to his hair and Zero lets him stroke some strands away from his brow. 

"Well, first things first: You need a bath."

He's in the boy's quarters, admiring the velvet curtains and satin cushions before he is pushed into the large washroom. Leon pulls at his coat, grabbing the knife from his sheath and telling him to strip while he finds a towel. The prince would bathe him? He has to smirk, it's in his nature. He hadn't expected to be spoiled so quickly in his stay here. Of course, he wouldn't do anything to the boy who saved him, but he wondered how he would gaze at his dirty, misshapen body. With disgust, probably. 

He hasn't bathed in weeks. There's mud on his boots and deep cuts on his skin, the blood dry around it. When he takes his coat off his musk fills the room. He notices his pants are still sticky from dry semen on his thighs. He was so accustomed to living with his body in such ways that he never noticed how unkempt he looked and smelled. A stray dog, exactly what Marx called him. 

Leon appears by the door and Zero notices how wide his eyes open. He expects him to pinch his nose at the smell, instead he merely gets closer, curiosity in his eyes as he examines his body.

"You're so thin..."

Oh. He had forgotten nobles weren't used to a body like his. Since he was a boy he's always had this build, visible ribs when he breathes in the soap in Leon's hand. Leon watches him with a hand on his mouth. Behind his large coat he looked bigger than he was, but now he was exposed and showing his true anatomy.

He tells him to move to the tub and Zero does as he is told, flinching as the cold, acrylic wall pinches his skin. Leon still wore the simple black robe, his diadem pushing his bangs back so they don't intrude his work. 

"Wait." With nimble fingers he motions to take his eye patch off, only to have Zero stop him. "Zero, I can't clean you with that on. The water will ruin it. Do you understand?"

He doesn't, but he has no choice but to give in. He takes it off himself, his scrunched up wound exposed to the prince but he did not stare. Instead, he moved to grab a wooden bucket, Zero listening to the flowing water in sudden nervousness. 

Water is splashed against his head and it's intruding, entering his eyes and ears. How long has it been since he has felt such icy, transparent liquid on his skin? It trails down his body and he stares at the pools on his hand, wrinkles already forming on his palms. He hears the prince lather his hands with soap, passing his fingers through his curls.

"Does everyone look like this? Where you're from..." He sounds worried, and Zero doesn't understand why.

He feels his eye close at the boy's movements, his nails scratching against his scalp and cleaning every single speck of dirt deep in his roots. He cocks his head to the side, staring at Leon genuinely, not sure what he meant.

"I mean..." He seems to understand Zero's confusion. There's a pull of his hair and he winces, but the quick shot of pain is nothing to him. "Is everyone this thin? Your shoulder blades are too noticeable for it to be normal. There's no muscle in your body."

He couldn't understand Leon's concerned tone. As he lathers his hair he truly feels like a dog. He was alive, he could move and fight. Was Leon worried that he looked sickly and weak? It was no different from before, he's still the same boy who can fire an arrow powerfully through the air.

"I've always been smarter than them." Zero raises an eyebrow, not comprehending why the boy continued to speak when he knew Zero couldn't understand him. "Father knows, he always took great care of giving me a higher education than Marx and Camilla. While he gave them swords and axes, he gave me books."

His eye closes shut as he leans his head against the tub, Leon cleaning behind his ears.

"Marx is perfect and great at everything. Camilla is beautiful and lovelier than a rose. The only thing I ever excelled at naturally was in my studies, everything else I had to work hard to achieve. I'm confident in my intelligence, probably the only thing I'm sure of."

There's a sigh as he continues. "I do understand why they don't trust you so easily. I've heard stories of their childhood, of even before I was born. Marx and Camilla don't take lightly to strangers in their home, and for good reason. But," Zero can't help how his body completely relaxes against his touch. "l'll prove to them about you, that the potential I see in you is right." 

His face is once again filled with water when another load is thrown against his head, easing the last substance of the soap out of his hair. It feels weird, his head feels clean but his body is wet and itchy. As expected, it wasn't the end.

Leon seems to ask him something along the lines of doing this by himself, but he's not sure how to react. He lets the boy pick him up, a sponge in his hand as he scrubs at his skin. He watches the dirt from his body cover the sponge, brown not only from it, only later realizing his skin was shedding. He cleans the inside of his yellow fingernails, between his fingers, between his armpits, his navel. 

"Really now, you need meat in your bones. I'll have a maid fetch you up some food later." 

When his hand trails closer to his flaccid penis he gives him a glance, as if looking for authorization. Zero shrugs and Leon cleans his underside, the stickiness he felt before slowly disappearing. It's strange, he thinks. He had expected that any touch from a person, especially a pretty boy like Leon would make him hard, instead he feels calm. No blood was rushing to his head. Leon continued normally, cleaning between his thighs. He wonders if the prince knows about sex. He seems too young for it, but then Zero was too. He was younger than him when he was first forced to do it. The white spots on his pants must have been something Leon had noticed, but he probably didn't know what they were.

Strangely enough, he doesn't wish for him to know. It felt relaxing, his body completely at ease from being touched by a person who didn't want to have sex with him. It made his skin tingle but in a comfortable way. He felt safe.

When he's done he grabs a towel and dries his body. Droplets fall on the marble floor as Leon ties the towel around his hips.

"Let me see if I have something that fits you." Zero watches the boy leave through the door. He decides to take this moment to look at himself, so he walks up to the tall mirror in the corner and dares glance at his body. Had he ever seen his body so clearly? It feels like he's looking at somebody else, his hair seemed longer against his shoulders, almost a grayish tone. The cuts on his skin were clean from Leon taking care of carefully wiping the blood without hurting him. 

Leon comes back with a large robe and Zero's brows furrow. That couldn't possibly belong to him.

"It's Camilla's. It'll fit you since you aren't as big as I thought you'd be."

He was taller than Leon, but his body was thinner. The soft fabric wraps around his skin and he relaxes against it, the cold leaving his body for warmth. Leon points to a stool on the white vanity in his room. He pulls tighter at the cotton around his body, sitting himself resolutely on it. Leon stands besides him and while he starts to disentangle his hair with a brush he looks around the room through the round mirror. It was larger than any "chamber" he has ever been in. He never understood why one person needed so much space, but Leon seems to use it wisely with the large bookshelves and cabinets that surround his bed. 

"You need a haircut, I hope you don't mind. Just the split ends at least. I'll get someone to do it tomorrow."

Somehow his curls unravel against the brush, his hair falling to his shoulders, still silky and wet. It felt strange, the most treatment his hair ever had was passing fingers through it.

"If you're wondering why I didn't call a maid to clean you it's because I wanted to do it myself." Zero watches the boy's reflection through the mirror as he continued to brush his tips. 

"Camilla used to do this to me as a child and I grew dependent of her in a way." There's a noticeable flush on his cheeks as he says that. "Not that I want you to depend on me, but with how much she took care of me I learned to trust her. This is what I want from us, to be able to trust each other." 

Zero's eyes trail to his still wrinkled hands, drops of water falling onto them from his hair. He doesn't understand anything and it's irritating, being in a place where no one could understand him and he couldn't understand anyone. Even more annoying is how Leon keeps speaking to him like he expects Zero to magically learn to interpret his tongue. He still doesn't understand what Leon will do. They'll never be able to comprehend each other if they can't communicate. 

Leon seems to be done, apparent by the confident smile on his lips. He lets go of Zero and places the brush on the vanity, staring at his clean complexion. 

"Are you hungry?" He asks him but he notices how it reverts to a pout, realizing he wouldn't understand. He sighs, but not before he notices Zero's wound was still exposed.

"Sorry, I forgot to give it back to you." He moves quickly to where he left it. When he returns he puts the elastic around the back of his head, accommodating it to his face. 

It feels intrusive, those pale hands on his profile. The only one who ever put his eye patch on was himself, someone else doing it felt strange. But somehow, he lets him. The prince had already caressed his whole body, this wasn't any different. He sees Leon smile as he pats his shoulder, Zero looking at himself through the mirror.

He's never felt so cleansed in his life. His face was clear, unblemished. It feels as if he were a virgin boy all over again. 

"I just realized," The boy sounds surprise. "You haven't used the bathroom in all this time. Please, go. It must feel like torture."

He points to the bathroom and Zero understands, a smirk on his face as he walks back to the marble floor with marble walls. 

It hurts to urine but the feeling that leaves him when he's done is relief. He hadn't realized he had drank so much last night. He flushes and walks back into the room, finding Leon high on a moving staircase, seemingly looking for a book.

"You should rest, Zero." He turns to him, motioning to the bed with a large book on his hands. It looks different from the book he had with him when he found him, but he knew the boy could apparently do magic, something he knew nothing about. He had only ever seen tomes from infiltrating people's home and stealing them to sell them. They just seemed like useless, incomprehensible words on thin pages that did nothing. They couldn't kill anyone, they couldn't be eaten. They were useless to Zero, apart from selling them they had no importance. What people did with them went beyond Zero's knowledge. 

Leon slowly makes his way down, Zero staring at him as the boy opens up the book. His eye opens slightly when the boy slowly mutters some words, moving to his side in curiosity. Leon notices and smiles, showing him the cover. _Lenguas del subterraneo._ A book about his language? He couldn't read, but the words Leon said sounded as if he tried to say that.

"It's a dictionary as well as a glossary. It says here the title means 'Subterranean Languages.' which is what I, horrible as it might have sounded, tried to say." He motions for Zero to come closer, showing him the words. Each one had the translation as well as how to pronounce it and a definition. Leon is smiling from ear to ear but Zero merely furrows his eyebrows, and he notices.

"Don't tell me..." Leon says in sudden defeat, closing the book. "You can't read."

Curses. It had never crossed Leon's mind that Zero was illiterate. It should have, considering it was immensely obvious a boy who was a thief wouldn't have the privilege of learning such things. 

Still, he is optimistic. He had never taught anyone how to read and write but Zero was smart. He knew how to adapt to situations, noticeable by how calm he was being in Leon's care.

Leon gives him the book, the former outlaw merely furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. He points to the bed and Zero sits down, passing thin fingers through the cover. It felt different from anything he's ever touched, the coarse leather feeling nicely against his digits. Curiosity hits him and he opens the book, touching each page delicately, admiring how the paper feels against his skin. He trails his index finger across the letters even if they looked like a bundle of confusing gibberish to him. 

"Zero."

He closes the book and raises his head to the boy. He's on his knees, forcing Zero to look straight at him. This is the only time he'll ever receive this treatment, he's sure. The prince kneeling to someone lower than him; if anyone saw them Zero would be dead by morning.

"Don't let anyone tell you you're not good enough. I'll show everyone, I'll show them the potential you have, that the boy I spared that night was saved for a reason."

He repeats the words to his face like a mantra.

"Do not let anyone talk you down."

Zero nods and the boy gets up, moving to call for a maid. 

It was nice to see him murmur such kind sounding words, but Leon seems to forget every second that Zero didn't understand his language. Not a single word. It was the thoughts that counts, he supposed.

Since he can't do anything with the book he discards it to the side and throws himself down on the bed. Strangely enough, it takes him some time to feel comfortable on the mattress, so unused to the softness and plush cushions that it brings some panic to his being. He wonders if telling Leon he wants to sleep on the floor was out of the question. Eventually, he relaxes by staring at the designs in the ceiling, his eye slowly closing, falling into a needed rest. He never knew it was possible to fall asleep without waking up every ten minutes to check his surroundings.

Of course, old habits die hard. He wakes up to the creaking sound of the door opening. He pushes himself up to watch the blonde maid enter.

"Lord Leon I brought-"

The maid's eyes open wide and the platter almost falls from her trembling hands before Leon grabs her, telling her to calm down.

"Are you alright, Margery?" Leon's reassuring voice fill the room, the maid gazing at him before turning to Zero again.

"My apologies, Lord Leon. It's just..." She averts her eyes from Zero's body. "He's so slim."

Leon stays unperturbed. "He's malnourished." He simply answers, grabbing onto the platter. He stares at the food for a few seconds before he turns to her with a disapproving look. "He can't eat all of this. He needs a light meal that will revitalize his energy."

Zero watches as the woman nods, clearly still nervous. "I'll bring back whatever you desire, Lord Leon..."

"No." Leon exclaims. "It's fine, I know it wasn't your decision. You're not in charge of the cooking." He glances at Zero.

"How has he survived this long..." A hand quickly goes to her mouth as she realizes what escaped her lips. Leon merely shrugs, but there was clear interest in the topic by the way he walked over to Zero. 

"I don't know what he used to eat but it somehow kept him alive and breathing. My question is where does he get the stamina to fight on, to be so strong even with how lanky his arms are..." When he says that his hand trails over Zero's elbow, extending his joint to watch his skin tighten against his bone.

"I know but..." Leon stops her with his hand.

"It's not your fault. Just leave the potatoes and the peas. Also the meat. I'll see if he can eat it." She nods and Leon places the mentioned plates on the table as she takes the platter. "Shall I make some tea, milord?"

"If you must." He tells her and she moves to the small tea table by the corner. The aroma of the tea fills the room, taking any trace of the sirloin steak's smell. When she's done she places the cup on the table, bowing to Leon. Zero notices how her hands tremble. 

Zero watches curiously how the maid leaves, eyebrows knitted in shame at her own performance. Leon nudges him to stand up, bringing him to the table. "I know you can't answer me but I'm sure you must be starving. Just eat what you can."

He places a fork and a knife besides the plates and Zero stays still, unsure of what to do. The most he ever ate was bread, easiest to steal from the markets. If he was lucky, he could grab an apple. If he was lucky _and_ blessed he could grab an apple and a piece of bread. He had only ever eaten meat from infiltrating some houses, and even then it didn't look as good as this did. 

But he wasn't hungry. He had no appetite. He doesn't remember the last thing he ate, if it even was food, but his body feels fine. 

"You do know how to eat with a fork, I hope?" Zero glares at him, the tone of voice strangely skeptical which he didn't like. Leon seems to apologize and Zero pushes the chair back, plopping down on the sit and picking up the utensil. The prince watches as he digs into the meat and pushes it into his mouth, biting back harshly. Leon had brought this food for him, he should at least eat it. It would go to waste if he didn't, that's what nobles did. Always throw food away. It was now or never, and he keeps that in mind as he forcibly swallows the meat even though his body rejects it.

"I gave you a knife for a reason..." He sighs and Zero wonders if his messy eating was repulsive and disgusting to him. He looks at Leon and chews on the food with his mouth open, a noticeable grin on his face. Leon averts his gaze, an audible noise of revulsion leaving his lips. 

"Don't do that, and stop smiling." He says that but there's a tug of his lips upwards forming that he can't control. "Really, you're disgusting. Table manners, just one of the many things I'll have to teach you."

Zero listens to Leon keep speaking as he chews loudly, pushing potatoes and peas into his mouth at once. Nothing he had ever eaten could compare to this, he didn't even know how to describe it.

Still, neither of them can prevent when he swallows and starts coughing, Leon's eyes opening in panic as he stands besides him. 

There's one last glance towards Leon before he's puking out the meat he had just consumed. 

Of course his body rejected the food, he should have expected this. It still felt horrible, it always did, no matter how many times he had gone through it. At least there's no noticeable blood on the vomit now covering the plates. 

"Gods, I should have known this. I should have stopped you from pushing all that food in, we have to start simple..." Zero's head falls back against the seat and Leon holds him. "Drink." 

Zero pushes his head back and leans to take a sip of the cup in Leon's hand. The liquid stings his throat and tongue, so unused to the strong taste. Leon puts the cup down and searches around his room for a cloth to clean the vomit.

"I should call Margery again..." Of course he would, he wasn't used to dealing with people's vomit like a _maid_ would. A prince never even cleaned himself, that's what servants were for. 

He points to the bed and Zero stands up, holding his stomach as he throws his back on it. His head started hurting again, just as it did hours ago. He watches as Leon leaves the room, then turns his head to the ceiling. 

He never got sick. After he puked, he would always feel better. Still, he felt like his body was rotting, which was strange. He only ever felt this way after he was given too much to drink in a tavern. Memories of passing the night drinking alcohol without eating resurface and he starts feeling nauseous. To think his body would reject such a nice meal, it was a waste. Leon shouldn't have wasted perfectly good food on him. 

In fact, he shouldn't be wasting any of his time doing this. Why did he feel the need to treat Zero like this? He's sure it has to do with everything he's told him, and he once again feels anger at not being able to know what he's saying. Did he feel pity for Zero? Was he only doing this out of charity or altruism? Did he think Zero, not knowing his language, could be turned into some sort of servant for him? One who wouldn't question his every wish? He scoffs. He wouldn't let him. If there's one thing Zero has it's pride. Of course, he was smart enough to be complaint towards everything he did today to receive the care he needed. Nobles _loved_ being listened to and having their every command be followed. Leon was the same, even though he lied with his soft touches and caring smiles. He felt pity for Zero, nothing more. And it was perfect, because Zero felt nothing towards him as well. He was merely taking advantage of the situation. The fools who betrayed him didn't realize they let Zero hit the jackpot.    

He wipes his lips with his hand and stares at the drool on his knuckles before wiping it on his robe. 

If there's one thing he's sure of it's that Leon wasn't going to kill him. Not today or tomorrow. A royal wouldn't waste so much time and resources cleaning him only to execute him the next day. Or maybe he wanted Zero to look good for a public execution? He couldn't know and honestly, he didn't care. He's laying on a soft bed, his body is clean, he tasted the most putrid drink in his life. To people like him, one night of freedom and rest was enough. If he died tomorrow he would be fine with it. 

Time passes by as he watches the nervous maid return, cleaning the mess he made, taking the plates, Leon gathering his discarded clothes and giving it to her. He wonders if they would clean them, that would be a first. He didn't have anything to wear anyway, and he couldn't spend his moment here with robes.  

He doesn't realize his eye closes as he watches the woman, forgetting to remove his eye patch as he always did. One night wouldn't matter, he always needed to be prepared anyways. As he feels himself slipping into a formal sleep, a hand pushes his hair back. He doesn't need to see it to know it's the white, frail hand of his blonde angel, his savior stroking his forehead. 

To think that morning he was listening to the people he knew since he was young speak of the plans for that day, and now he was somewhere he'd never even dreamed of. If he could, he would curse them for always treating him so badly. Surely this was karma for all they ever did to him, using him as decoys and scapegoats, hitting him, mocking him.

Still, it feels lonely without the multiple snoring of his companions. He doesn't even wonder where Leon will sleep since he took the bed. The boy seemed to have left. 

Even without knowing if the prince would truly keep him alive, he still saved him. If he killed him, he still saved him by not turning his back to him tonight. 

That night he sleeps in tranquility for the first time in his life.


End file.
